And, to your credit, in the past non-statements and not responding has worked. Sure, the occasional Democratic candidate has attempted to use some of these prior issues against you, but you were able to brush them off thanks to weak campaigns and poor messaging used against you. Who (aside from the political wonks who read articles such as this) know what franking is? What is is a $500 reimbursement in the grand scheme of the federal budget? Disney World is the happiest place on Earth – who are we to question such an expense given the tough job of governing? And Anti-Gay sentiment? Well, that plays well among some of your constituents and the hardliners you have to appease, so take the risk and throw it in there, only to retract if the biased, fake news, liberal media calls you out on it.

But this one, this one is a little bit different.

The people who have their mail-in ballots sitting on their kitchen counters may not understand subtle nuance of franking, and questionable spending from years ago have long since been forgotten – but if there is one thing the average voter can wrap their heads around, it is improper fundraising, mostly from groups outside of Utah. I hate to break it to you, but that tends not to play well in industrious, by-your-bootstraps Utah.

At best, at best, the most prudent strategy is to hope that Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams (you know, your opponent, who has been surging in recent weeks and is in a statistical tie with you) hammers you on the issue and you quietly hope that just enough people don’t pay attention until the FEC issues its formal ruling, hopefully, prior to election day.

But, no, you and your campaign staff chose to go a different route; affirmatively stating something that, at the very least, has not been formalized and, at the worse, is demonstrably untrue.

With mail-in ballots already out and Election Day less than three weeks away, you have chosen the worst possible way to attack this issue and, to be frank, this forehead-slapping mistake is bush league. You just gave McAdams ammunition in a war that you may very well lose, and you handed it to him on a silver platter. Now McAdams can legitimately claim that you lied about (or, at the very least, ignored the process regarding) the outcome of a federal investigation – and that is a mistake you can’t afford to make.

Now, granted, living in Congressional District 2, I have no personal skin in the game. But I will say this: having a background in campaigns this sort of stuff just makes me cringe. But, I will also say this: Being a Democrat, I delight in such errors. Thank you for doing the heavy lifting. And, as a citizen of Utah and the United States, I will say this: it is time to get your house in order.